Slave Trade: An Economic Cause - Grade

Round 2 with my Historical Interpretation professor was a success, although I actually struggled with this paper.  It had to be 7-9 pages in length, but there was so much information to pick from that I had a hard time making decisions about what was most relevant.  Here's what my prof had to say:

"This is a very polished, well considered essay.  You show a firm grasp of several of the essays we've read for this unit, and you draw on them well to support your viewpoint.  You don't have a really explicit thesis statement, which you should have, yet fairly early on I see what point of view you are taking.  This is a very well written paper that considers alternative points of view fairly. You lean heavily on the preexisting presence of a slave trade in Africa, which at first blush might not seem to advance (or retard) your argument, but you make sense of it (even though, as I've indicated, I don't think all forms of slavery were the same).  Overall this is a very good job and suggests you can write excellent papers for this class."

Grade:  A-

Phew!  This was the day-brightener that I needed!  I wish I could bottle up the feeling you get when you receive good praise from a professor for an essay, it would make staying motivated while writing them a lot easier.  Maybe this blog will be a valuable tool while writing papers after all!

One of his bits of constructive criticism is aimed at a seemingly missing thesis statement.  I have to disagree with him on that point; I believe the last sentence in my opening paragraph sums up my argument pretty clearly.  Everyone looks at a paper differently though, so I'll try to improve on that in my next paper.

AE

Slave Trade: An Economic Cause - Essay

Finally!  Here is my latest essay.  Here are the details:

Was the cause of the Atlantic slave trade based on cultural beliefs or economic gain?  We were given this question and a book, The Atlantic Slave Trade, edited by David Northrup.  We were told to answer that question in the form of a 7-9 page essay. Obviously this essay is only based on a very small sample of an abundance of work on the topic, so consider this my initial interpretation to a very large, and complicated matter.

Click here to read Slave Trade: An Economic Cause

AE

Interpretations Galore

It's been too long since I've posted; school, job, finances and firefighting will do that to a guy.  Historical Interpretation has been going pretty good so far.  Our first topic to better understand why interpretation is so important in historiology is the Atlantic slave trade.  We've ripped through several essays from various authors and time periods.  The main points of these essays are the causes, effects and statistics surrounding African slavery and its expansion westward.

 

Scholars vary in opinion on the ultimate cause of slavery's growth.  Some cite cultural beliefs that reach back as far as the Roman Empire.  Others take a religious point of view citing, as just one example, the historical struggles between Christians and Muslims.  And what would any argument be without the many Marxist philosophies.  Yes, there are those too.  Some geared more towards class warfare and/or the distribution of power; others are pointed to the economic advantages for, not only the European beneficiaries of slave labor, but of the African slave traders themselves.

 

Remember, the point of this class is not to necessarily learn about our topics (although it's an obvious perk), but it's to understand that there are many interpretations of history.  Historical Interpretation is meant to expose us to multiple biases, interpretations and opinions leaving us with the task of formulating our own.  Our next paper is on the slave trade and whether we think it was "caused" by cultural or economic factors.  As of right now, I believe that slavery was definitely engrained into African cultures before the arrival of the first Europeans, but that economic factors coupled with ethnocentrism were the main causes of its westward expansion.  I'll have to wait and see where this paper takes me though...

 

AE

 

 

Interpreting the Atlantic Slave Trade

Looks like this is the topic for module two of my Historical Interpretation class.  The book for this section is The Atlantic Slave Trade, edited by David Northrup.  Looks like I don't have a paper due for a few weeks either.  I'm kind of looking forward to the break.  I say break, but of course there's still work.  However, reading and then having good class discussions is hardly work.  Adios for now... Still recovering from my fantasy football draft last night...

AE